Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Biography

Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Biography
on Aug 28, 2019

About

Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, the man who has woven magic with his words and some unputdownable series of writings, knew West Bengal thoroughly. A master whose lucid and unsanskritized vocabulary and simple style of writing appeared to be a welcome break for the readers, from the tradition of that time. He gave the rural Bengal a character in itself, a character of simplicity yet strength. Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay was born on 15th September 1876, in Debanandapur, Hooghly District. He spent his childhood in his maternal uncle’s home in Bhagalpur. In the year 1894, he passed the Entrance Examination from TN Jubilee Collegiate School and was admitted to FA class but was unable to continue his further education because of the poor financial condition. Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, had a varied career. He started of being an Assistant Settlement officer, in the Baneli Estate. Subsequently, he worked in Calcutta High Court as a Translator and thereafter, as a Clerk in the Accounts Department in Burma Railway. He was also a member of the Bengal Congress and took part in the Non-Cooperation movement. He was later appointed the President of Howrah District Congress. Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay is considered to be an author, who understood the Bengal villages the best. His works have a rural essence, as it speaks of the simple day to day life stories of the families, living far away from the cities in the tranquility of nature, growing old among the rivers, trees and farm lands. He wrote of the women very highly and talked about their situation in a patriarchal society frankly and honestly. He voiced his protest against the social discrimination, injustices and superstitions that went on in the name of religion. His first novel ‘Badadidi'(1907), made him instantly popular among the readers. ‘Bindur chhele'(1913), ‘Parinita'(1914), ‘Baikunther will'(1916), ‘Devdas'(1917), ‘Srikanta'(Part I-IV, 1917-1933), ‘Charirtrahin'(1917) are few of his other popular novels. His novel ‘Pather Dabi’ (1926), was however, banned by the British government for its revolutionary theme. For children he wrote a series of stories and novels, which include the popular ‘Ramer Shumati’ and the short stories about ‘Lalu and his friends’. A large number of successful films have been made and are still made on his stories, namely, ‘Devdas’, ‘Parinita’, ‘Srikanta’ and so on. He received several awards for his contribution to Bengali Literature. ‘Kuntalin puraskar'(1903), ‘Jagattarini Svarna Padak'(1923), membership of ‘Bangiya Sangeet Parishad'(1934) and an honorary D.litt by the Dhaka University in the year 1936. Bengal suffered the irreparable loss when he passed away on 16th January. 1938.